When more than one pod in a seed kit fails to germinate, or seedlings show yellowed leaves or are stunted growth, chances are they are experiencing a nutrient deficiency. This is generally caused by one of two things:

Using water that is high in dissolved minerals (“hard water”, well water, or water that has been through a water softener), or

Nutrient tablets that were damaged by high heat or humidity, which occasionally occurs in transport or storage.
If your plants are experiencing these symptoms, it will be important for future success to determine which of these may be causing the problem.

Water

Water that is high in dissolved minerals can cause problems with growth in the Aerogarden and many areas in England do have “hard” tap water. If you are using “hard” water, well water, spring water, or “softened” water, you will experience germination and growth problems in your AeroGarden. The dissolved minerals in the water will block the proper uptake of the nutrients by the plants. Hard water is the number one cause of growth problems in the AeroGarden. Most water filters do not remove minerals.
If you think you may have high mineral-content water, we recommend switching to bottled distilled water (not “spring”, “drinking” or “purified” water) instead, which is available at most supermarkets.

Nutrients

If your Seed Kit experienced very high heat or humidity is shipping or storage, the nutrients may become damaged, causing the same nutrient deficiency symptoms. If your nutrients appeared to have dissolved and leaked out of their container in storage/transport please contact us for replacement nutrient tablets (if the item was originally purchased directly from us).
*Please note – nutrients which appear wet or partially dissolved in their bag are not necessarily damaged – if they are in twin packs of just two nutrients you can cut the bag in half and rinse out the contents in a cup of tepid water (including the nutrient tablets themselves) – then empty the contents of this cup into the Aerogarden water bowl. Be sure to store your nutrients in a cool dry place (a fridge is ideal) to prevent any further absorption of liquid.

As with any appliance with electrical and moving parts there can occasionally be problems, many of them can be prevented. If you wish to talk through a problem with your aerogarden please call us on 0845 170 7555 and we will be happy to help.

The L.E.D lights on the base of the aerogarden are on, but one of the bulbs is not working

- First check whether there is a problem with the bulb itself not the socket by switching the aerogarden off at the mains, swapping the two bulbs, and turning back on. More likely than not the suspect bulb will still not come on whilst the other will. This is because an electrical fault has caused the bulb to blow. Contact us to get the bulb replaced within its 6 month warranty period (aerogarden.org.uk customers only)

- If however the problem appears to be with one of the bulb sockets, you may need to replace your lamp hood or have the aerogarden inspected and repaired/replaced. Contact us.

- You can help prevent any problems with bulbs blowing by ensuring the aerogarden is always switched off at the mains when removing or insertings bulbs (the same goes for the water bowl).

The L.E.D lights on the base of the aerogarden are on, but both lights are not coming on

- Consider whether the lights are in their ‘off’ period in the 24hr cycle. See our entry on light and pump settings

- If you think the bulbs should be in their “on” period and are not, first check that the power lead that connects the base to lamp hood is securely plugged in

- It is possible though unlikely that both bulbs have developed electrical faults that caused them to ‘blow’. If you have any spare bulbs, test these in the aerogarden (always ensuring to switch off at the mains when removing or inserting bulbs). There my also be some slight black colouring around the bulb sockets if the bulbs have blown

- If the problem appears not to be with the bulbs themselves or ou cannot tell, you may need to have the lamp hood of the aerogarden replaced. Contact us.

The aerogarden is not turning on; the L.E.D lights are not illuminated

- Check that the aerogarden is plugged into the mains and whether there is any damage to the power lead

- If so there has probably been an electrical fault developed within the aerogarden base. You will need to have this part of the aerogarden replaced. Contact us.

The L.E.D lights on the base of the aerogarden are on, but I can’t hear/see any water trickling through/ my seeds aren’t growing at all

- See our pump troubleshooter

My aerogarden is running but has become noisy

- See our pump troubleshooter

That should pretty much cover any problems that may arise with the aerogarden unit itself, if this doesn’t answer your problem please call us on 0845 170 7555 or email contact@aerogarden.org.uk

My pump is noisy

- If your pump was running fine and then started making a lot of noise, most likely it has drawn a chunk of undissolved nutrients up into the impeller, and needs cleaning

My pump appears not to be running (can’t see or hear water trickling through seed pods

- First consider whether the pump is in its “off” period in the 24hr cycle, bear in mind it only runs constantly on the salad greens setting. Put the aerogarden onto this setting to test it

- If it does not run after a minute or so on the salad greens setting, the electrical contacts between the lamp arm and the bowl may be bent or corroded. Unplug the aerogarden as the mains, carefully remove the main bowl (lifting up then out) and check the metallic contacts.

They should look like this…
 

If they are bent they will look like this…
  

- If so double-check to make sure your AeroGarden is unplugged, and gently push the contacts back into place with a screwdriver. Always ensure you lift the bowl up a little before pulling it out away from the aerogarden to reduce the likelihood of contacts becoming bent.

If they are corroded they will look like this…
 

If corrosion is present, use a cotton swab with a little vinegar and some abrasive kitchen cleanser to gently scrub the corrosion off. Polish the contacts with a clean cotton swab after this to remove any cleanser residue.

If this doesn’t work, you need to check the electrical contacts where the aerogarden base connects to the bottom of the lamp arm.

- Push in the tab at the bottom of the lamp arm, at the back of the aerogarden, to release the the lamp arm and carefully lift it out from the base.

- If you can see that contacts are corroded double check that the aerogarden is unplugged at the mains and carefully use a sharp knife to scrape any corrosion off the contacts.

I have checked both sets of contacts and the pump is still not running on the salad greens setting

Try cleaning the aerogarden pump as the pump may have failed because the aerogarden got put away between seeds kits without being properly sanitized, which would have caused the nutrient solution to dry and harden in the pump, causing it to seize up.
Alternately, a chunk of undissolved nutrients may have been drawn into the pump causing it to jam.

If the pump still does not work after these steps

The pump has failed. This can occasionally happen, please contact us to have the pump replaced within the 12 month warranty period if you purchased the Aerogarden unit from us.  Outside this period you can purchase a pump directly through our Aerogarden accessories website.  Cleaning the pump and sanitizing the aerogarden in between seed kits will help prevent this.